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SPEECH 



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MR. CLARKE, OF NORTH CAROLINA, 



ON THE 

t 



OREGON QUESTION 



D ELI V ERED 



iN THE HOUSBOF.REPRESENTATIYES, 



FEBRUARY 6, 184 6. 



\ 



\ 



WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED AT THE UNION OFFICE, nuij 

184 6. ^'^^ 



. n 



S P E E C 11 . 



On the resolution of notice to Great Britain to abrogate the convention of joint 
occupancy relative to the Oregon territory. 



Mr. CLARKE obtained the floor and addressed 
the committee as follows: 

Mr. Chairman: It is with much diffidence that I 
rise to address this committee for the first time on a 
subject which, in my estimation, is so immediately 
connected with the peace of the country, and on 
■which gentlemen of much more ability and experi- 
ence differ in some respects so essentially. But as 
a large portion of those whom I have the honor to 
represent seem to feel a very considerable interest 
upon the subject of Oregon, if I may be permitted 
to form an opinion of the extent of that interest by 
the resolutions lately adopted in their primary 
meetings, it is but proper — indeed, sir, it may be 
expected by them — that I should express my views 
upon this subject. Such as I have, they are entitled 
to, £md 1 will give them to them; premising, hev/- 
ever, that if pn a question of this important charac- 
ter I should unfortunately have mistaken their 
Virishe.3, it will be my pleasure, as it certainly is my 
duty, to rectify the mistake and to carry out what- 
ever may be their purposes in the matter. Amidst 
all the differences of opinion on this subject, how- 
ever, to which 1 have adverted — a difference of opin- 
ion both as to the extent of our rights and the best 
way of maintaining those rights — it is gratifying to 
witness the unanimity of all on one vastly import- 
ant point connected with this cjntroversy. If ail 
efforts to settle this matter peaceably shall be of no 
avail, and if war is to be the dreadful alternative, 
we have the assurance of men of all parties, that 
they will unite, as if with one hand and with one 
lieart, to give efficiency to the war, and to terminate 
the conflict, so far aa human agency may prevail, 
honorably and gloriously for the country. What 
emotions of pride does not this assurance excite in 
the breast of every one; what a commentary does 
it not furnish upon our free institutions, and upon 
the character of our confederacy; and what a promise 
does it not hold out of our steady, gradual, and iire- 
eistible progress as a people to that maj.'nificcnt 
destiny which is in reverse for us, if we v/ill only 
be faithful to ourselves! However, therefore, this 
matter may be settled — whether by negotiation or by 
war; whether peaceably or by the clash and din of 
arms— this fact is of inestimable value, and cannot 
fail to exert a powerful m'oral influence upon the 



growth and prosperity of our common country. It 
will also give us confidence in the patriotism of 
each other ; it will blunt, in some degree, it is to be 
hoped, the acerbity of party spirit; and it will tell to 
foreign nations, in terms which cannot be misunder- 
stood, that however much we may differ on ques- 
tions of d()mestic policy, when a foreign foe shall 
touch our ."oil, we are prepared to give him, in the 
language of the honorable gentleman from Illinois^ 
[Mf.'DnuGLASs,] "the best fight v/e have on hand,'* 
and that is a uniltd fight. As these assurances have 
from time to time fallen upon the ear of the House, 
the inquiry lias involuntarily forced itself upon my 
mind, whether it were possible tliat this cor.ld be 
the result of the annexation of Texas, whether it 
were pos.sibIe that this could be the evidence of that 
alienation of attachment to our free institutions, 
which was predicted by some as sure to follow the 
consummation of that great deed. Certainly, after 
so much was said about the dissolution of the Union, 
and the disaffection of a portion of our people to their 
own government, it washardly to have been expected 
that in so short a time we s'lould witness the grati- 
fying spectacle of men of all parties coming up to 
the altar of their country, and there making a free 
and voluntary offering of devotion to her in every 
emergency. But, sir, it is as true as it is gratifying. 
The North and the West, the South and the "East, 
without distinctiiiu of pnrty, unite in the hearty, 
prompt, and cheerful declaration of a determination 
to standby their country when tl;e shock of war 
shall come. I was for Texasthen, and am for Oregon 
nov/. I was for adopting the mo.'t prompt f>n(i 
vigorous measures when the former was to '^e in- 
troduced into our sisterhood of States; a; ^ 1 will 
r.ow go as far as any one in adopting such meas- 
ures as may be necessary, in the event of war, to-' 
maintain our rig):t:5 and establish our uuihority in 
the latter. And, eir, if there could be any difference- 
in my zeal in the two cases — which I do not, how- 
ever, admit — I must confess that my zeal would be 
the greater in favor of Oregon; for we have learned 
from those who have had the management of thi.s 
case from the beginning, that Oregon is ours, our 
nvn soil, our own patrimony. Texas, on the other 
hand, until admitted into our Ufiion, was the land 
of ivnother people. In contending for Oregon, we 



arc bu'. striving to retain our present possessiona, 
onileared to us by the recollection and by the 
achievements of our ancestor!?. In contending for 
TeXAS, we were but striving; to ex/fni/ our posses- 
<Mon», to increase our wealth, our power, our re- 
sources, and to disseminate the blessings of our 
Union — results certainly gratilying to Our pride and 
ei'.rouraging to our hopes, but which can hardly be 
So. J to be equal to the duty of holding on to our 
own, of keeping that which we have already got. 
What profit, I ask, can it avail us, if wc accumulate 
with (irie hand to-day, atid give away and squander 
with thi: other to-morrow? What seeming fickle- 
ness, at one time to peril the peace of the country in 
order to acquire territory, and at another time hesi- 
tate, for fear of encountering the dreaded power of 
another nation, to assert and prepare to vindicate 
our just and manifest rights! Nor can the consider- 
aitioi) that one of these territories is to be the abode 
of freemen only, whilst the other is to be peopled in 
Twrt by slaves, be allowed to have any influence 
whatever on my mind in bringing it to a conclusion 
as to the course I o\ight to pursue on a great ques- 
tion of national righUs. Nor do 1 look to that bal- 
ance of power which has been (oo frequently advert- 
ed to in this Hou.se and throughout the country, be- 
tween the sldveholding and non-slavehoiding States 
of this republic, as necessary X>r the protection and 
security of the peculiar institutions of the South. 
These depend for their present support upon the 
concessions on that subject which are to be found in 
the con.stitution of the United States, and without 
■which that instrument could not huTe been ratified: 
■and they depend for their future support u[!bn tlie 
;ien6€ of justice on that .subject which can alone pre- 
serve and perpetuate that instrument. When these 
shall cease to operate, little is to be expected from 
it. ll is worse than idle to place any reliance what- 
ever or- a mere abstract balance of power founded 
on numtjers, on whichsoever side the preponder- 
ance may be. When they shall cease to operate, 
the balance of power by which those institutions are 
to be supported will be one not founded on numbers, 
but on might — the success of which will depend 
Tiiuch more on the justice of the cause in which it is 
to bo exerted — to wit: the maintenance of our just 
rights — than on any mere seeming superiority based 
oa majorities. This is tlie view m which the two 
cases present themselves to my mind; and viewing 
them m th^t ligiit, 1 cannot but say that ray y.eal for 
Oregon is at least equal to what it was for Texas. 1 
repeat ii, therefore, what seeming fickleness at one 
time to peril the peace of the country i« order to I 
aqtjuire territory, and at another time lie.->itate, fori 
fear of encountering the dreaded power of another 
nation, to assert and prepare to vindicate oiu- just 
and ni.uiifest rights — our olertr and indisputable title ] 
to the Oregon territory! Bui the ijentieman from 1 
Tennessee [Mr. Ewino] denies that our right to any 
portion of that territory can, with any propriety 
whatever, be pronounced clear and indisputable, j 
The title lo any of it is, in his estimation, doubtful;! 
and this doubt he attributes to the uncert:unty — not, 
lo say unsoundness — of the principles by which we; 
lay cIujiu to the country, when tested by any known 
and acknowledged princi|>les of international law. 
The gentleman alleges, for instance, that — | 

1. Il.is '.I'lubtful, under the law of nations, wheth- j 
er the discovery of the mouth of a river gives a right i 
to the territory drained by it. \ 

j:. It is doubtful, under the same laws, whether! 



discovery avail anything without speedy settle- 
ment. 

3. It is doubtful whetlier both discovery and set- 
tlement give title to a nation, unless made under 
government authority. 

He also asserts that it is doubtful, under the law 
of nations, whether war extinguished or puts an 
end to a treaty of the nature of the Nootka conven- 
tion. 

It may perhaps be true, sir, that not only the 
principles laid down by the honorable member, but 
that all other questions which require for their so- 
lution a reference to the law of nations, may, withou t 
any very great impropriety of language, be set down 
as doubtful and uncertain. And tliis doubt is owing 
to the various interpretations ai\d applications which 
those laws have received by different nations, and 
even by the same nation at diff'erent times, and also 
to the absence of something in the nature of a judi- 
cial tribunal to adjudicate and settle them. It must, 
however, be borne in mind that tiiis present con- 
troversy is with Great Britain; and if she, by her 
past conduct has given a special interpretation to cer- 
tain principles of international law, it is but fair 
and proper that we hold her to thatconstruction;and 
if that interpretation when properly applied lo this 
case shall give us the Oregon territory, it ccrtairdy 
cannot be regarded as a very great departure from 
propriety of language, if, When speaking to her, 
we should assert that our title to that couutry is 
"clear and unquestionable." Now, I would ask, 
if her m:inner of acquiring territorial rights on the 
Atlantic side of this continent has not given certain- 
ty, if not existence, to the doctrine that the discove- 
ry of the mouth of a river, followed up within a 
reasonable time by settlement, gave her title not 
only to the whole country watered by the principal 
river, but also that which was watered by its various 
tributaries.- And by the skilful conjunction of the 
right by continuity to that conferred by discovery 
and settlement, I would ask the honorable gentle- 
man if she did not extend her possessions far be- 
yond the most distant sources, both of the principal 
rivers and their tributaries? if she did not push them 
even beyond the Alleghany mountains, and limit 
them only in their western extension by the great 
Mississippi river? Tiie sincerity of Great Britain 
in giving this interpretation to the laws of nations 
c;innot be questioned, because inlTGO she went to 
war with France to maintain it. She was not only 
willing to risk her character before the world as a 
fair and just interpreter of those laws, but for the 
maintenance of her, construction she was willing and 
did expand millions of money, and sacrificed thou- 
sands of the lives of her subjects. Give us, then, as 
respects the Oregon territory, the rights to the same 
extent which discovery anU settlement have confer- 
red upon Great Britain in the ea.stern part of this 
North American continent — and to this, let us add 
tiie righl.s which continuity would give us, regulated 
by her own practice — and our title is complete. 
Discovery and settlement would give us title to the 
whole country watered by the Columbia and its 
tributaries, extending from the 4:2d degree of north 
latitude, and bounded on the east throughout its 
whole extent by the Rocky mountains, and on the 
west by the Pacific, until it reached the mouth of 
Frazer's river in latitude of 49°, when it would 
run along the highlands which separate the waters 
of the Columbia and Frazer river valleys up to 
54° A0\ Give us, then, the benefit of continuity — 
let it operate in our behalf with only half the vitali- 



ty and efficacy with which it worked out territory 
for Great Britain on this our own continent, and 
we take in Frazer river valley, and become at once 
united to the Pacific. And, sir, if there ever was a 
country in which the doctrine of continuity would 
operate in the extension of territorial rights, the up- , 
per part of this Oregon valley is plainly and emphat- 
ically one. The very reason and object of the prin- 
ciple is, that a people may the more fully and con- 
veniently enjoy that portion of any country which 
is clearly and confessedly theirs by discovery and 
occupation, or by some other acknowledged manner 
of acquiring territory. The valley of the Columbia 
is ours by the discovery of Gray in 1792, and by 
subsequent settlement within a reasonable time, as 
acknowledged by the surrender of it after the last 
war; and this valley extends as far north as 54° 40V 
The inhabitants, therefore of the northern part of 
this region would have to travel the whole extent 
of the Columbia river— a distance of some thousand 
or twelve hundred miles— before he could embark 
the products of his labor and skill on the mild bosom 
of the Pacific, in search of a foreign market. This 
long, and tedion.^!, and toilsome journey he must 
take, with the Pacific withir^ two hundred miles of 
his home, and Frazer's river within one-fourth of 
that distance, because Frazer's river was discovered 
by a subject of Great BriUain ! But this discovery, 
however, was not until the latter part of the year 1793, 
some 18 months after our citizens had discovered the 
Columbia, and therefore eighteen months after this 
principle of continuity— if'it has any application, 
any force whatever — had extended our right to the 
Pacific. But admitting that we throw out of con- 
sideration any advantage we might claim to the 
Frazer valley by continuity, and concede that to 
Great Britain, and then our title to the south of 49°, 
from the Rocky mountainr^ to the Pacific, would be 
indisputable; and to the north of that parallel we 
would have the Columbia, and Great Britain the 
Frazer valley. Both these valleys are now, by the 
treaty of 18i27, in the joint occupancy of the two 
countries. This, then, is the only portion of this 
northwe.-5t country — the portion to the north of 49° 
— which, in the most unfa-orable view for us, can 
be the proper subject of division. A line beginning 
on the Pacific, somewhere between 51° and 32°, 
and running along that parallel to the Rocky moun- 
tains, would give to Great Britain a portion of the 
territory we claim, and to us a portion she claims- 
would give us each a line of the Pacific coast equal 
to our hneon the Rocky mountains, and would al- 
so secure to the honorable gentleman from Tennes- 
see [Mr. Gentry] that straight fence he so much 
desired. By discovery, settlement, and continuity, 
therefore, the whole of Oregon is ours. Throw 
continuity out of the account, and confine us to dis- 
covery and settlement, and we have the very clear- 
est title to 49°, leaving only the valleys of the Ore- 
• gon and Frazer rivers, to the north of that parallel, 
to be divided between us. A line between 51° and ^ 
52° would accomplish the most just or equitable di-i 
vision; or, in consideration of our taking Vancou- 
ver's island, the line might be located on the 51st] 
degree of latitude. But we are here met with an- j 
other proposition of the honorable member from i 
Tennessee, [Mr. Ewing,] in which he assert.s "that i 
it is doubtful whether both discovery and settlement; 
give title to a nation, unless made under government! 
authority." However this may be, by the laws of | 
nations Great Britain is estopped, by the character j 
of her own pretensions to any portion of this coun- 



try, from setting up any such doctrine. What, I 
would ask, is the beginning, the very foundation, 
of all the claim which Great Britain now sets up 5o 
any part of this country? Is it not all to be traced — 
does she not herself trace it, through the Noolka 
convention— to the mere temporary occupation of a 
part of Vancouver's island by Lt. Meares— who, a 
is true, was one of her subjects, but who. so far 
from acting under the direction of the "government 
authority" of his own country, was, at the tinrac, 
sailing and operating under the Portuguese flag. 
But, sir, if it be true that "government authority" 
must accompany discovery and settlement, m order 
to perfect the title to this territory, does it not follow 
that Great Britain has the clear title to the whole of 
this northwest territory, because she, as early as 
1803, and then again in 1821, extended her laws 
over it, whilst we have n-st, to this day, extended 
either our authority, our laws, or our institutions 
over the country? And does the gentleman re&Ur 
mean to be understood throughout the country as- 
denying that we have any rights in Oregon? I do 
not believe that he desires to be so understood; and 
yet this is the practical result of his positions— tfae 
necessary conclusion from his premises. 

Thus far of our title acquired by the enterpri^ 
and adventure of our own citizens, which 1 regartl 
as the most reliable part of it. Let us now look in- 
to our title from Spain, by the treaty of 1819- By 
that treaty Spain ceded to the United States "all her 
rights, claims, and pretensions to the northwest ter- 
ritory." So far as prior discovery is concerned, 
"these rights, claims, and pretensions" of Spam 
extended, and were complete, as ftir north as 5^' 
40', at least. Between 1774 a-id 1779, exploring 
expeditions, sent out by their government, had dts- 
coveied the Pacific coast as far north as the paraiSel 
of 60°, had landed on it at various points, had traded 
with the Indians, and had taken formal possession 
of the country in the name, and for the benefit, of 
thpir government. Whereas, the first Engli.sh nav- 
io-ator who saw any portion of this coast north ol 
4^2°, was Cook, in 1778, after every portion of the 
coast he visited had previously been visited by the 
Spaniard*), Perez, Hecela. and Bodega. 

The government of Great Britain, however, con- 
tends that in the year 1790, Spain concluded wrtU 
her a treaty, by which certain rights were secured 
to Great Britain, in this Oregon territory. This 
treaty of 1790 she contends is still in force, and Ihat 
the only effect of the treaty of 1819 was tf subsii- 
tuteour government in the place of Spain in tofc 
former treaty. But we contend that the treaty ol 
1790 was abrogated and annulled by the war oi 
1796 between the two contracting parties. All wh* 
I have argued on this point seem to admit that there 
are some treaties which a subsequent war betweeu 
the contracting parties annul and destroy; and nu- 
merous attempts have been made to lay down .some 
general rule, by which it may be determined what 
kind of treaties are destroyed by war, and what 
I kind survive a hostile conflict between the parties- 
It may perhaps be more easy to determine that ques- 
'tionin individual cases, which may present them- 
selves to our minds, than to lay down anything hke 
a general rule. And the result of the attempts 
which have been made, strongly verify this asser- 
tion. Some gentlemen, for instance, declare, as a 
<reneral rule, that all commercial treaties arc abro- 
gated by war. This, as a general rule, is not com- 
prehensive enough; for it is certain that the trea- 
ties which are not commercial in their characl«sr 



are aloo terminaicd by a wtir between ll-r parties. 
A ireaiy r.^Vneive nnd dcren^ive is of liiic cht^kacUr. 
Another gentlemr^ — 1 rric^an tliC honot^blo tnembcr 
Troni South C;ooli:i.i, [Mr. Holmes] — has trin! liis 
skill on tills pr.ir.t, and, will: all due deference, his 
attempt coni's f qwally short of t'le niavl:, if no' 
more so. He cOiittrJpcl that ilioce tro:j'.'.c3 v.Licl! 
confer pri%ilegp.^, tire aI:)ro^ateil ly war; v.hilst those 
wliich oonfer rii:ht.s, remain untnuclici. Tiii.^i, psa 
general rule, i;; cerlai'^ily wanting of disti:iclfii*ss, 
for some privileges are most certainly rights. The 
only distinction which ocriiru tome to bs fit oner, 
sensible and conijTfchensive, is that whi:!i (U-<lares 
that executed treatico are not afTt.cttd by a war be- 
tween the parties; whilst those that ore untxec.ulefi — 
lliose whir;h arc executory — ihose which are in- 
Jicri, arcannulkd. Treaties, fov'in£t.ii".i"e, wiiich sef- 
tlc bouKdarics — wiiich limit or confer territorial 
rights, arc unaffected by any and e» erj' cJinnge i.i 
the rt latioos between the two countries. Tlie trea- 
ty of 1790 bft«pen Spain and Great Hri;.ain is 
clearly embraced in the latter c'a.TS. Itprr.vid'dfor 
trade wi'h the Indin.is, ar.d for settlonifiits. iVirihc 
purposes of trade, and I'.ir that jiurpuse only. Tlie 
right to make sett I. -.men ts can, by no fiair construc- 
tion, be rr^arded aa a ri»ht to appropri^le territory. 
Such a ci?nstruction i.s not warranted by the unam- 
biguous i.isaiiincf of I'le terms oniplr.yed; and wlion 
we ret'er to e.Ttraneous considera'.ionn, in order 
to aid us in comipg et ihe mcanin-j of tlio parlie.s, 
this construction lius ;n!ll less on which to stand. If 
tcrritorii-.I rights were iniended to be secured, it is a 
itflcciion to suppose that two mioh inl:-l!igent na- 
tions would not have employed IcdS equivocal and 
ji.ore pieci.=o and definite tenr.s. Slill h^? mn it be 
believed that Great Britain, who was tlie pnrty to be 
beneiiied, would have lc'"t such essential and pecma- 
nent rights to implication nnd construction, ft is 
only v.'hen she .seeks to extend her cleie.is fir be- 
yond the meaning and intention of thepowr v.'ith. 
vhich .?ho is tiealing, that siie employs e'or.biful 
and ambi(!;'ious phiasfs. It is by the arts and tricks 
of diplomacy, she aims to accomplish her wi.^!ie.:, 
"when more open and direct means have failed of 
success. Again, at the time when this treaty was 
made, and for many year? before, Spain speraed to 
be beset with a perfect mono.matiia for fin; p.-.-rMii- 
sition of territory — f:>r the discovery of ncwif.lands 
and new continents. Her orplorinji: vessels were 
sent out into every sea, nnd to the uttermost parts 
oft the eartli, in fear-cli of some new s;)ol ou which 
to plant the standard of her enterprise .and power. 
I.s the idea that the treaty of 1790, acknowledged 
joint territorial rights in this northwest territory, 
which w.Ts clearly the property of Spain by dis- 
covery, bctwctn these two nations, consistent with 
tlie avarice of Spain — with her rage for the acipiisi 



which might abound in the bosom of its mountains. 
Moreover, if the treaty of 1799 was an appropriation 
on the part of those power.-; of the Oregon territory, 
is it not a little remarkable that soon after the close 
of the last war. Great Britain should have placed 
the United States in possession of a poriion of thia 
very territory which had been taken from the latter 
(luvin-j the la.^t war? C'an she admit, without in- 
volving herself in dishonor, that she surrendered to 
ouv government at tliat time territory which she 
now urges belonged to herself and Spain? I.i 
it not more easy to believe that this right to the ter- 
ritory in all.an after thought of hers, pressed now 
with the greater pertinacity because of our offer to 
compromise, because of our tacit acknowledgment, 
r.s she construes it, that she had permanent rights 
there.' 

Gcntlernen have been pleased, Mr. Chairman, to 
oof.iider this question in its beiiring upon the 
peaceful rehitions of the two countries, and I trust I 
shall be pare'oned if I should so far imitate the ex- 
ample v/bich hnK been set at; to cxprc-ss my i^pin- 
ions on that point. I venture to say liiat no one 
would deprecate more than myself a war with Eng- 
land, or with any other power. I trmst that I feel 
a juU appreciation of the hor.id calamities of war — 
tii.T clfurnon of bioo-I it would produce, the loss of 
iifc it \,vould occasion, the injury to cinimcrce il 
would eflVct. But these are the invariable and un- 
avoidable effects of all w.ir; eiTects which would be 
visile 1 on Great Beilnin in a degree equal, at least, 
to what we might experience of them. And if the 
invariable and unavoida'ole efTccls of war are to be ef- 
fectually urged against the maintenance of our Ju:it 
rights, it reepiires no Solomon to see that these 
rights art" forever to be abandoned whenever their 
iisserlion would, by the inoat remote ])robability, 
lead us into a conflict with another pcofde. It ap- 
pears to me that in a3certaining our right;;, and in 
coming to a determination to vindicate them, con- 
siderations of |»care or war should not be allowed 
to exercise a con'rollihg influence. In case of doubt 
and uncertainly as to our rights, I admit that they 
sluuild be allowed to turn the scale in favor of a 
compromise, or, if necessary, an abandonment of 
our pretensions. But when our rights are "clear 
and indisputable," as clear as a sun-beam, as we 
have been taught to rrg;\rd them in rp.spr,ct to Ore- 
gon, it will not do to listen to them, unless wc arc 
pj^paied lodcprece.te war on any occasion, and for 
any purpose. Itappcfirs to me, sir, that the exam- 
pic of our revolutionary fathers is tho only proper 
one in such rases, and one which recommends itself 
to our'mont favorable consideration. When they 
wr-rc about to engage in a conflict with the dreaded 
pn'ver of Great Britain, and that, loo, at a time 
wlicn the oJds were a luind red-fold greater against 



lion of more land? Is it to be credited that she them i!nn they arc a;;ainst us, did they stop to cal- 
would thus surrender the darling of hef alTections, 'culate the consequences of the truly appfdiing con- 
tho object of all her sell-s.icrificing elTorts, without : l''st in which they were alioul to engage? No, sir. 
even a struggle to maint'.iin and preserve theai? They but satisfied themselves of their rights, and 

Ts it not more natural, more consistent with the they went ahead to vindicate them, leaving the con- 
circumstances of the two nations at that tin-.e, to be- sequen:-es to Him who rules the dealinie.'j of nations 
lieve that Great Britain represented to Spain what as well as of individuals. Their sufrering."!, and 
she now sny.^ to us, that she did not desire the losses, and hazirds were far more startling than any 
country for the purjiose of makins; permanent set- ihat can po.«sil)ly brfal us. Their sufferings were 
tlemcnts, but as afTordinj; facilities of trade with the imprinted by their bloody foot-steps on the frozen 
Indians for it.", t'ur.-?. This facility, this privilege of' earth — their lo.,-s, if overwhelmed, would have been 
trade, we migh' well suppose that Spain would be wil- | the Io.'js of freedom — tlieirhazud v.as that of reap- 
biig, for valuable considerations, to grant, inasmuch j ing the death of the traitor, and the ignominy of 
-\s the country was only deairal)le to her nr; a future i the rebel — sntTerin:r, and losses, and liazards which 
ibode for her citizens, and for the precious metals I in no possible event can come to us. 



Such was the spirit that actuated our ancestors 
then, and such I believe to be the spirit by which a 
large portion of the American people are actuated 
now. If war therefore should unfortunately grow 
out of this matter, its responsibility, whatever it 
may be, whether for glory or for shame, must and 
Vr'ill rest upon those who have proved before the 
American people their clear and indisputable title to 
the whole of Ore2:on. Convinced that it is theirs, 
they will be unwilling to yield a single inch. When 
required to do so, they v/ill desire to knov/ v/hy it 
is urged. And what will you tell them? You can- 
not tell them that our title is involved in doubt and 
uncertainty; and, therefore, that it is a fit subject for 
compromise. You cannot tell them that, because 
you have already convinced them, that our title to 
the whole of it is clear and unquestionable. It will 
not do to tell them tliat the country is poor, not 
worth having, and that we would make a good 
bargain to gi^'e it away. It could not but occur to 
them that it would be worth as much to us as to 
Great Britain. You would have to come out with 
the honest, bare-faced confession, that you wanted 
to give it away in order to appease her wrath — in 
order to avert her power — in order to avoid the con- 
flict with her, which v/ould be necessary to maintain 
our rights. Such appears to me to be the com- 
plexion of the case, so far as re2;ards all those who 
think our title to the whole of Oregon is clear and 
indisputable, and are still wilUng to give up a por- 
tion of it. 

Now will the assertion of our manifest and ack- 
nowledged rights, of our clear and unquestionable 
title to the Oregon territory, involve us in a war? 
And here I will take occasion to observe, that what 
I shall say in this connexion, as well as Vi/hat has 
been said by others here, is at best but idle and vague 
conjecture. I deem this avowal necessary, for fear 
it may be supposed by some of my constituents that 
I was in possession of some facts unknown to them, 
on which I predicate my opinion. For their infor- 
mation, it may not be amiss to state, that I know ho 
more about the matter than what has been publish- 
ed and sent forth ta the world, and upon which 
they can speculate as much, and perhaps more cer- 
tainty than I can. I will not stop to inquire wheth- 
er the mere giving the notice is a just cause of war. 
I consider the notice as preliminary only to the 
adoption of such measures as may be necessary to 
maintain our rights, wliatever they mny be, in the 
Oregon territory. It is evident that the Presideutso 
regards it, when he says in his messas^e, "at the 
end of the year's notice, should Congr«ss think 
proper to make provision for giving that notice, we 
shall have reached a period when tlie national 
rights in Oregon must either be abandoned or firm- 
ly maintained." It is tlie effect, therefore, of the 
measures which are to follow the notice, and v/ith- 
out which the notice would be an idle mockery, 
and not of the notice itself, to v/hich we must direct 
•our attention, when arguing the probable consequen- 
ces of otir conduct in this matter. The portion of 
that territory to which v,'e may lay claim, and the 
course which we are to pursue in order to establish 
our exclusive authority in it, are the proper conside- 
rations to be taken in the account when we under- 
take to answer the question whether t'lere will be 
war. And here I would observe, that my opinion 
on this question is entitled to but little v.eight when 
put in opposition to the opinion of the humblest citi- 
zen in this country. Unsophisticated in the arts of di- 
plomacy, wholly unacquainted with the arts of craf- 



ty politicians, accustomed to look at things as I see 
them, and hear them, and read them, and to form my 
opinion accordingly, it may be that I am deceived 
by false appearances. But if much that I see, and 
hear, and read, be not intended for other times — for 
the year 1848, for instance — if there be nothing of 
scenic effect in all that strikes my vision, I should 
say that the prospect of a war between this country 
and Great Britain, about this Oregon territory, is ve- 
ry far from being visionary and chimerical. I do 
not say that we are to have it the next week, or the 
next month, nor perhaps the next year. But if it 
shall not come before two years, it cannot but be re- 
garded as imminent and impending, for it will take 
until that time to get ready for it. When I say that 
the prospect of a war is far from being visionary, I 
take it for granted that we are to go in for the whole 
territory — nothing more nor nothing less. A major- 
ity of the people are for the whole of it — a majority 
of their representatives, I believe, are for the whole 
of it — and the President appears to be for the 
whole of it; nor do t believe that the President 
vvill accept shy thing short of the whole of it. Can 
any person believe otherwise of his views? Sir, 
I have great confidence in that ofiicer — more 
than ail, I have great confidence in his candor, 
a quality which has laid hold on the feelings 
of the people; and which, as much as any 
other, and, j>er:mps, more than all others lie pos- 
sesses, has given him an abiding place in the very 
affections of the jjeople. He declares that our title 
to, the whole of it is "clear and unquestionable"'* 
It is true, that in obedience to the actions of his pre- 
decessors, he submitted a line of boundary to the 
British government, which, if accepted, would have 
given us less than the whole country. But no soon- 
er is the offer rejected, than he instantly puts an end 
to further negotiation, as if rejoiced that he is rid of 
the trammels by which he is surrounded; as if glad 
that he is at last throv/n upon his own resources and 
left to follow the dictates of his own judgment. 
From considerations like these, I do not believe that 
the President will accept anything short of the en- 
tire country. And if we are to take possession of 
the whole territory, can gentlemen be really sincere 
in the declaration, oft made and oft repeated, that we 
are to have no conflict? Can members bring them- 
selves really to believe that Great Britain will suffer 
her citizens to be quietly, peaceably, and uncerenao- 
niously dispossessed of their present position 
throughout tl:at v;hole country, v/ithout makingany 
effort to sustain them — without raising so much as 
her right arm in order to stay the hand of the spoil- 
er? They who thus count upon her tame submis- 
sion, and most speedy abandonment of her preten- 
sions, seem to have forgotten her pride — her ambi- 
tion — her avarice for territory. They blindly close 
their eyes to wliat the events of the few last ]> ears 
cannot have failed to impress upon the government 
of Great Britain — and that is, that sooner or later, she 
will have to strike a blow for even a foothold on this 
North American continent; nay, that she will have 
to strike it now, strike it for Oregon, or submit soon 
to see the sceptre of her power forever removed. If 
she falter now, her doom is sealed. This she can- 
not fail to see and to feel, and seeing and feeling it, de- 
pend upon it, this taking possession of the whole of 
Oregon will be no holyday business, as a distin- 
guished senator, [Mr. Webster,] once said, when 
encountering the popularity and power of the hero of 
New Orleans. And, sir, if, after notice, we consent to 
limit our claim by the 4Dlh deg., I still have my fears 



8 



thai even then war is not improbable. I am aware 
that the press of this country, iind the politicians, too, 
have expressed a kope, and many of them a belief, 
that the differences will all be amicably adjusted. 
"We have also, within a week or two past, heard 
from the press of the other party, and 
they, too, express the hope, and most of 
them a belief, that the two countries will yet 
peaceably settle their present controversy. This, 
sir, is creditable to the humanity of the two peo- 
ple. But when the press and the politicians of the 
respective parties attempt to specify the manner in 
which it may be peaceably compromised, you at 
once perceive that their hopes are delusive. On our 
side the 49th degree seems to be the ultimatum with 
each party, and with every man. On the part of Great 
Britain it is the 4'Jth degree, with Vancouver's island 
and the free navigation ofihe Columbia. This, sir, 
is the difference, wiih some variation, which has 
separated the two countries for the last twenty-five 
or thirty years. And the question still occurs, 
^vhicll will recede from its pretensions.' Can any 
one propose that our country shall recede further 
t}ian the 49th degree.' And who can say with any 
certainty, or probability even, that Great Britain will 
curtail her demands. The free n,:vijration of the 
Columbia appears to be the sine r/ua non of all her 
offers to compromise, and that the President lias 
declared he cannot accede to; and for this determin- 
ation I believe he will receive a hearty and almost 
universal response from the whole American peo- 
ple. Greai Britain may recede, and i sincerely 
irust'she will; but as yet I have seen no evidence of 
it. Of this I have my fears, and upon these fears 
rest my apprehension that this matter will sooner or 
later interrupt the peaceful relations of the two gov- 
ernments. 

On our side, also, there i.s much which has trans- 
pired of late which is calculated to prepare the 
minds of the people for, and to hasten on, a con- 
flict between these two great and powerful govern- 
ments. Irritation has succeeded irritation, and ag- 
gression has followed aggression, until our people 
seem to be not only ready, but many of them anx- 
ious, foraccnflict with that haughty power. In 
the first place, the people of the United States look 
upon Great Britam as having overreached us in 
the settlement of the northea.st boundary, and that, 
too, by fraud and imposition. They have not for- 
gotten that her statesmen held up in the British 
Paijiament, before the face of the whole world, a 
map which was in their posdession during the ne- 
gotiation, in order to show what thf y had gain- 
ed over us by management and art, and as an evi- 
dence of our ignorance or of our submission. 
This fact has sunk deep in the bosom of the Amer- 
ican people, and disposes them to .anything rather 
than a backing out of their pretensions to the 
Oregon territory. Her secret and officious interfe- 
rence also with the authorities of Texas, in order to 
defeat the great project of her annexation to this 
country, is of too recent (irigin to have lost any of 
its stirring and harrowing effect on the public mind. 
To this may be added her interference with a colony 
planted under our auspices on the coast of Africa — 
her claiming, and in some few cases exercising, the 
right of searching our trading vessels in the Mediter- 
ranean — and last, though not least, h'r avowal of a 
determination to preserve the balance of power on 
this continent — a determination which she has al- 
ready commenced to enforce among the South 
American states, and which, at some convenient 



time, if we fail now to act with decision and firm- 
ness, she will seek to extend to us. It is in view of 
all these considerations of aggression on the one side, 
and of irritation on the other, that I am constrain- 
ed to say that I have my fears that the peace of the 
country does not rest on such a sure foundation as 
some seem to suppose. I repeat it, sir, that my 
opinion is entitled to but little weight, for after all, 
it is vague speculation; and I am willing to admit 
that from my extreme ignorance of the way in 
which these things are managed, I may be most 
grossly deceived by appearances. But I agree 
with the honorable member from Massachusetts, 
who sits usually behind me, [Mr. Winthrop,] that 
we should speak plainly in this matter. Whatever 
our rights in that country are, I go for maintaining 
them at every hazard. 

But sir, even among those who are agreed as to 
our right to the whole of Oregon, theie is a diversity 
of opinion as to the best manner of a asserting and 
securing our rights there. Whilst one portion of 
its friends are decided in the opinion that we should 
come boldly out — declare our claims before the 
world and prepare to defend it if necessary with the 
strong might of the country's arm — there is 
another portion who are for leaving it to. time and 
emigration quietly and peacefully to effect the same 
result. It appears to me that time and emigration 
have been looked to long enough to adjudge and de- 
cide this matter. Twenty-five or thirty years ago, 
this same matter was left to the arbitrament of time, 
and it may be asked, what is now the state of the 
case.' Why, sir, we are now further from a deci- 
sion of it than when it was iirst submitted to that tri- 
bunal. The two governments are actually getting 
further and further apart all the while in their efforts 
to bring about a satisfactory adjustment of that mat- 
ter. And pray, sir, what has emigration done all 
the while.' It too has been tardy and inefficient, and 
is now altogether hopeless. It is true, that there 
arc now in Oregon some seven thousand Americans, 
but the time when these seven thousand people went 
there is an important inquiry in this connexion. I 
would ask, if it be not true that they have nearly 
or quite all of them gone there since the spring of 
1844, when the democratic party in convention at 
Baltimore declared our title to the whole of Oregon? 
and if it be not true, that yet a larger portion of 
these have gone there since the peo[ile of this coun- 
try, in the great popular election of 1^44, ratified 
and confirmed this declaration.' Mr. Greenhow 
.states, in his History of Oregon, that so late &H 
the fall of 1843 there were but four hundred 
Americans in the whole territory. These, then, are 
the assurances that have carried them there — assu- 
rances that the country was ours, thai it was to be 
taken under our own dominion, and that they 
would be protected by our laws. Refuse now to 
give the notice, and thereby manifest a distrust of 
our title, or a backwardness in adopting measures 
lo maintain it, and you will not only, in my opinion, 
effectually arrest emigration thither, but that thou- 
sands of those who have already gone there will re- 
turn to the Slates. Or if emigration shall be continued, 
it will be limited entirely to the south of the Columbia, 
and thu3 will give to Great Britain all that she de- 
sires. I must confess, linit I have no confidence in 
the wonder-working-effects of "'inaclivity," whether 
it be called wise and masterly, or stupid and bun- 
gling. It never has done anything either for nations 
or for individual.s. Activity is the main-spring of suc- 
cess and prosperity in all our undertakings. Accor- 



ding to the gentleman from South Carolina, [Mr. 
RiiETT,] our revolutionary fathers tried both, and 
the result of their experiment is a glorious commen- 
tary upon the superiority of determination— of firm- 
ness, of activity. We are told by him that they en- 
dured for ten years the hardships, and oppressions, 
and exactions of the mother country, before they 
took up arms to redress themselves; and we are ad- 
monished to imitate their patient forbearance. But 
what did this forbearance effect for them? Inactivity 
but brought upon them an accumulation of wrongs, 
an increase of exactions, and an addition. of hard- 
ships. It was activity — a firm and open avowal 
of their rights, and a determined effort to maintain 
them — that worked out a vindication of their rights, 
and a redress of all their grievances. Let us "imi- 
tate them in their last resolve— let us declare our 
right not merely to establish forts and post-routes, 
but our right to the territory, to the soil— and by the 
time we shall need them, we have fifty thousand 
people in Oregon. Instead of seven thousand men, 
women, and children, we shall have twice that num- 
ber of fighting-men— men of nerve and skill in the 
use of the deadly rifle — ready and on the spot to 
defend their homes and their firesides. But those 
gentlemen who promise to get for us the whole of 
Oregon if we will not pass the notice, tel! us that 
their plan will not lead to war. Their.g is the pacific 
policy, if we would trust to their skill in prophecy. 
But let us analyze their plan and see how it is to 
work in practice. They, like us, advocate our 
right to the whole, and that we shall take posses- 
sion of it, or encourage our people to do so. 

The only difference between us is, that we pro- 
pose to notify Great Britain of our intentions— they 
propo.se to do the same thing without any notice. 
Well, how do they propose to take possession.' 
Why, by erecting forts, by establishing post offices 
and post routes, and by extenduig our laws over our 
emigrants, and by encouraging them to make per- 
manent settlements in the country, and to reduce 
and cultivate the earth. And all this is to be done 
throughout the v/hole extent from 49" to 54'^ 40'. 
To limit these establishments to the Columbia, or 
by the 49°, is at once to admit that you intend to 
surrender the balance of the territory. Can Great 
Britain fail to see in all this a determination to oust 
her from the country.' Is she so blind that she can- 
not see— so deaf that she cannot hear— so dull that 
8he cannot understand.^ Think you that our actions 
will not speak to her louder than any words we 
could employ.' Will not our forts, and our militia, 
and our farms, and our workshops, speak to her 
in language stronger than what we can put into any 
written notice v/e can serve upon her, and tell her 
of our determination to appropriate the whole coun- 
try? And if she is determined to retain any portion 
of It, will she not prepare to do it at once, at the 
point of the bayonet, and at the cannon's mouth? 
To expect anything else, is to calculate largely upon 
the blindness or tame submission of that haughty 
power. The gentlemen app-^ar, themselves, to have 
some apprehension after all that their plan niay 
network so peacefully and quietly; and they attempt 
to prepare and reconcile us to the war which their 
p^lan may bring about by telling us that it will make 
Great Britam the aggressor; and they amplify most 
eloquently upon the manifold advantages of being 
in the defensive. I am willing to admit that there 
are great and manifest advantages in laeing on the 
defensive in any controversy, whether it be of a 
warhke or other character. But it would seem to 



nrie that no war will possibly grow out of this ques- 
tion in which Great Britain will not necessarily and 
unavoidably be the aggressive party. Even if the 
notice is given, and war should ensue, she must 
begin it. AH will admit that we can populate that 
country more rapidly than she can. The gentle- 
men who propose to get the whole country, if the 
notice be not given, count largely if not entirely on 
our superior advantages for colonizing that country. 
So long, therefore, as we can do that, and thereby 
secure by our majorities the control of the country, 
v/hat more do we ask? What is there to fight for? 
Nothing, certainly, on our part. Our position would 
give us every advantage. So far, therefore, as the 
question of war is concerned, the practical results of 
both plans would seem to me to be the same. The 
one may bring it on a little more speedily than the 
other, but war is as likely to follow the one as the 
other, and in either case Great Britain must begin it. 
I am, therefore, in favor of the notice, because I 
believe that there is a disposition on the part of al- 
most every member of this House to take posses- 
sion of some portion of that territory — to encour- 
age our citizens to emigrate there, and to make per- 
manent and exclusive settlements, and to extend our 
laws and institutions over them. This cannot be 
done, in my estimation, consistently with subsisting 
treaty stipulations, until after the notice is given and 
the treaty abrogated. The notice is the only way 
in which we can in proper faith rid ourselves of our 
obligations to Great Britain. And this course is as 
necessary for those who think our claim does not 
extend beyond the 49*-*, as for those who would be 
satisfied with nothing less than the whole. For the 
subjects of Great Britain have the rights of ingress 
and egress and of trade into every portion of the 
territory — to the south as well as to the north of 
49'^, and to the south as well as to the north of the 
Columbia. To curtail or destroy these privileges by 
any measures which shall ope.-ate either directly or 
remotely to produce such a result, cannot justly be 
done without first putting an end to the treaty of 
1827. And 1 very much doubt whether we shall be 
able to get the signature of the President to any 
laws, the immediate or remote effect of which would 
be to exclude Great Britain from any portion of the 
country, until the notice has been first given. Trea- 
ties, when once concluded, are invested by the con- 
stitution of the United States with the force and 
name of laws, and by that same instrument the 
President is bound by his oath to see that the laws 
are faithfully executed— /ai//i/'u//i/ is the word ac- 
cording to their direction, their spirit, their letter, 
and in no other way. 

Again : I am for the notice, because, if we are to 
take exclusive possession of any portion of the ter- 
ritory, to proceed with the notice is more open and 
above board. For us to attempt secretly to get pos- 
session of the country, would carry with it the ap- 
pearance of an effort to deceive — an attempt secretly 
to undermine, which could really deceive no one, 
and which is equally against good faith and fair deal- 
ing. Our country should always remember to ful- 
fil, with scrupulous exactness, all her obligations — 
her contracts — all the pledges of her faith, whether 
they relate to the payment of money, to territorial 
rights, or to commercial privili^ges. To keep them 
to the promise, and to break thcrn in act and in deed, 
is unbecoming our frank, our manly character, as a 
people. To proclaim the inviolability of treaties at 
the same time that we are secretly and sneakingly 
seeking to empower ourselves to violate them with 



10 



personal impunity, if I may so speak of a govern- 
ment, is very near akin to that faith whicli hus been 
ingloriously immortalized as punica fides — JucJas- 
like, it salutes with a kiss that it may the more com- 
pletely deceive and betray. 

Again : I am in favor of the notice, because I be- 
lieve that the giving of it now holds out the only 
plausible means of prcventiHg a war between the 
two countries. The postponement of the notice 
from 1827 to this time has increased and multiplied 
the difficulties with which the controversy was origi- 
nally surrounded. And it is difficult to see what 
else could have been anticifiated. For the interests 
of Great Britain have been and are now daily in- 
creasing in extent and permanency, making all the 
•while stronger and stronger appeals to her pride and 
avarice to maintain them. At first, she had but the 
moving tent and the temporary stockade. Now, 
she has the permanent dwellingand the bristling for- 
tifications. At first, she had but the roaming liun- 
ter, as wild and unsettled as the game he pursued. 
Now, she has the fixed agriculturist and the settled 
farmer. Now, she has there a scattered population. 
In a few years this population will be doubled, add- 
ing constantly and daily to the difficulties of a satis- 
factory and peaceable adjustment. Never was the 
application of that holy injunction, to "agree with 
thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in (he way 
■with him," more appropriate and pressing than it is 
in relation to this present controversy. Let us profit 
by it. The notice is all-important as leading irre- 
sistibly to a settlement of this matter in pome way. 

There is still another consideration influencing 
my mind in favor of the notice, ^rowin? out of the 
hi.story of this Oregon question. " In 1818 this ques- 
tion was brought up for negoii?.tion and compro- 
mise; and so intimately connected with the peace of 
the two countries v/as it then regarded, that its agi- 
tation was attended with tlie most injurious effects 
upon the commerce, upon the credit, and indeed 
upon all the various pursuits and interests of our 
people. In 18'37, its agitation was again attended 
•with the same disastrous results. Now, again, for 
the third lime, has it been brought up for renewed 
discussion in the year 184G ; and if we are to credit 
those who profces to u.i'^erRtund such matters, it 
has again exhibited its galvanic efiect upon all the 
best interests of the country. Postpone it now, and 
some eight or ten years frovr. this time, if not soon- 
er, it rnusl again come up with all its usual concom- 
itants of panics and depressions. I.« it not iIk- part 
of wisdom to put an end to such a state of things.' 
Do we not owe it to ourselves, and to tho.^e who 
conrie after us, to arrest this political earthriuake, 
•which at intervals has given a shock to all that is 
valuable in society? 

Mr. Chairman, as something has been said atout 
leaders in this matter, and as the gentleman from 
Ma.«sachusetls [Mr. Ar.-iMs] has been held up be- 
fore the country as the leader of those who are in 
favor of the notice, 1 will bes; the indulgence of the 
committee whilst I make a few remarks in relation 
to that matter. I will take occasion to say, that in 
givmgmy vote for the notice, I shall follow the lead 
of no man — the lead neither of the illustrious gen- 
tleman from MassacViuse't;:, i-,.ir yet of the honor- 
able member from Virginia, [Mr. Bayly.] I knov/ 
no lead, and I shall follow no lead but that of my 
constituents. Whithersoever they direct in a mat- 
ter of so much importance to their peace, thither I 
go cheerfully and promptly. But, sir, if the gentle- 
man from Massachusetts happens to coincide with 



me in opinion upon this or any other subject, I 
shall most certainly not change my views on that 
account merely. To do so, would be to put my po- 
litical principles entirely in his keeping, to be con- 
trolled and directed as he might think proper. He 
would only have to affect to be on one side, in order 
to drive me into that very position into which, above 
all others, he would most desire to place mc. Again. 
I would asV: with what propriety can it be said that 
tlie honorable member from Massachusetts is the 
leader of all those who are in favor of the notice.'' 
1 had thought that the democratic party was the 
leader in this matter. I had thought that their dele- 
gates in convention had declared our title to the 
whole of Oregon. I thought it formed a part of the 
declaration with which we entered the political 
struggle of 1844, in which we were opposed and re- 
sisted by the gentleman from Massachusetts, and 
by those who usually act with him. And now, 
al'ter tlie gentleman, with all his might and main, 
resisted the election of the only candidate that was 
publicly pledged to the maintenance of our rights 
m Oregon, he is to be held up as "the leader of all 
those who advocate the notice. It will not do. 
Gentlemen will fail in their object. They ought to 
know, and do know, that the democratic p?.rty ha^e 
adopted their principles, not from a spirit of opposi- 
tion to others, but because of their connexion with 
the prosperity and glory of our common country. 
By such an intimation, the honorable gentleman de- 
preciate the moral influence of the political princi- 
ples by which they have, for some time past, pro- 
li'ssed to have been governed. 

But some gentlemen who have preceded me in 
the debate, declare that before we proceed to adopt 
measures which may possibly lead to war, we 
ought fully to be satisfied, not only of our rights, 
but that those rights are of sufficient value and im- 
portance to justify a resort to that dreadful alterna- 
tive. This will lead me to trouble the committee 
with a few reflections upon the value of Oregon; 
and in this connexion I v.ill consider it with respect 
to its agricultural, its manufacturing, and commer- 
cial capacities. And, first, as respects its agricultural 
a<!vantages. And here I am willing to confess that 
at first blush, and as appears from the very imper- 
fcrt accounts from the portion;! of that territory 
which have been yet explored, the prospects are 
not so encouraging, so far as agriculture is concern- 
ed, as is to be foimd in other portions of the habit- 
able globe. It has not, for instance, the smooth- 
ness of the valley of the Mississippi, nor yet per- 
haps its fertility. But that the parts of it already 
explored do l\old out very considerable induce- 
mcntP) to the agriculturist, and that a more thorough 
examination inay yet lead to the discovery of other 
and still larger tracts suited to the same desirable 
purposes, is far from being without the range of hu- 
man probability. Of late, every year is rewarding 
the toil of the hardy pioneer with tlie discovery of 
some new valley vicing in richness of scenery — in 
fertility of soil — beauty of location, and salubrity o^ 
climate, v.ith any spots of equal extent in the v/orld 
The valley of the Umpqua, of the Willamette, and 
of the Walla Walla have, from time to time, burst 
upon the gaze of the hardy adventurer, and re- 
warded, from time to time, his daring and toil- 
s )me wanderings. But, sir, when we remem- 
ber that, until within a few years past, this 
whole country has been looked to with an eye 
single to the furnishing of furs; and when it is fur- 
ther remembered that those portions of any country 



11 



which are most inviting to tlie foot of the traveller 
are the least adapted to the products of a^ricultiire, 
the wonder perhaps is, not that so few, but rather 
that so many spots have already been found which 
are hereafter to gladden the heart and reward the 
toil of the husbandman. Much, too, that at first 
sight would seem to be unsuited to cultivation may, 
by dint of industry and enterprise, become the 
abode of the quiet and independent farmer. To the 
eye of the piJsjrim as it, wandering over the sur- 
rounding country for the first time ,>rom the rock 
of Plymouth, how dreary and desolate the scenery. 
Nor did a further progress into the interior destroy 
or even weaken for a long time the startling fea- 
tiaresof the picture as it first presented itself To his 
■vision. But Massachusetts is now a great and 
powerful State— great in her population, in her 
wealth, in her commerce, in the intelligence and 
enterprise of her citizens, and ereat in her revolu- 
tionary reminiscences. By thelndustry of her peo- 
ple, by their economy and prudence, her snow-cap- 
ped mountains have been converted into fruitful 
gardens, and her very rocks have been made to 
bloom with thefreshness of vegetation. And of a 
niajority of the old States, how small is the por- 
tion of their surfaces that gives employment to the 
husbandman. But in all that contributes tfl the 
nurture of flocks and herds, and to the .support of 
manufacturing establishments, Oregon bids foir to 
stand unrivalled on this northern continent. Her 
Tallej'-s, her hills, and her very mountains produce 
spontaneously and in abundance the most nourishino- 
graases, adapting her above all other countries to 
the grov/ing of woo! — a commodity for which v/e 
are now so largely dependent upon importations 
from abroad. And though her rivers and water 
courses are broken by fulls and compressed in places 
into narrow defiles, offering no safety on their bo- 
soms to the vessel or the steamship, these very 
deformities, if I may so express myself, make them 
invaluable to the manufacturer. 

Our political opponents have for a long time been 
pressing, upon the country the unspeakable advan- 
tages of making everything within ourselves, and 
being dependent on foreign nations for nothinjj; 
and really, sir. when we are once in the peaceabFe 
posb-e-ssion of Oregon, I shall feel that we are about 
to experience the realities, whatever they may be, 
of their political hallucinations. We can then cer- 
tainly make our own cotton, our own wool, our 
own meat and bread, our own clothes, and our'own 
gold and silver. Yes, sir, our ov/n gold and silver; 
for who can tell of the countless stores of mineral' 
wealth which lie embedded in the bosom of her 
mountains. For her mountain.-s are but a continu- 
ation of those which, in Mexico, have poured out 
their treasures in such astonishing profusion into 
the iaps of her citizens. But it is in regard to the 
commercial importance of this wonderfid country 
that prophecy has ventured her most amazing spec- 
ulations. It is in this point of view that Oregon be- 
comes invested with an interest and importance 
which it IS not given to the mo.<?t sanguine ima,"-in- 
ation to grasp. We are told that whatever nation 
1:1 the history of the world has monopolized the 
trade of the East, has exercised a controlling influ- 
ence over the destinies of the other nations of the 
earth. Phenicia, Carthage, Greece, Rome, Venice, 
Genoa, and Holland, have been .-successively the 
successful competitors for the glittering prize, and 
they were successively the masters and school-'mas- 
ters of the world, giving to it law, civilization, the i 



arts that embelhsh and the sciences that dignify and 
ennoble human nature, and pouring into the laps of 
the othsr nations the luxuries of a refined and cul- 
tivated existence. The sceptre of this all-pervading 
power is now in the hands of Great Britain, and 
she stands confessedly the master power of the 
world. To secure this trade by the only practica- 
ble route which now presents itself, her merchants 
are compelled to traverse an ocean way of some 
tens of thousands miles, and requiring for an aver- 
age voyage some five or six months. 

If Oregon shall become ours, and the project of 
a railroad between the Atlantic and Pacific shall 
ever be realized— and realized it Vv'ill be— that trade 
mu;5t pass through our country, because the route 
from the East to Europe would be shortened by- 
some two-thirds. Cur country must then become ' 
the thoroughfare of this great trade, and into our 
hands must pa«s the sceptre cf that poiver, which, 
in all ages that are past, has given such controlling 
mcrjvl and physical infiuence to its fortunate pos- 
.scssor over the kingdoms of the earth. Considera- 
tions like these — considerations, too, far fiora being 
fanciful and visionary — invest Oregon with an inter- 
est and value which will not justify us in surren- 
dering it as a barren waste. I am aware of the at- 
tempts made at times to depreciate and underrate 
it. I know that it is represented bj? some as a des- 
ert waste, in which mountain is piled upon moun- 
tain in wild and steril confusion, fit only to be the 
abode of the murderous savage, end of the prowl- 
ing wild beast. But, sir, I must confess that I like 
the country for the very wildness of its mountains. 
Mountainous countries are thenurseries off.-eemen. 
The love of country which they in.spire is to le 
found nowhere else. The inhabitant of the })lain 
loves his country, but it is often a cold, selfish, 
and calculating attachment. Point out to him a 
place where his interest will be more promoted, and 
country is lost sight of, amidst the engrossments of 
interest. The mountaineer loves his country with a 
romantic devotion, partaking of the grandeur, the 
subhmity, the sternness of the scenery by whicii he 
is surrounded. And, sir, when liberty is about to de- 
part from any country which it ha.? once blessed 
with her presence, her last and lingering footsteps 
are to be seen in the defiles r.nd recesses of its 
mountain.s. And when our country shall have 
reached the meridian of its glory, and, in obedience 
to that law which nature has imnresseJ all things 
human, shall f;egin to wane and "declincj perhaps 
som.e pL'.triot Wallace, with his few valiant, devot- 
ed fo!lovv'ci.T, will, in the rude mountains of Oregon, 
stay for a while our downward course, and drive 
back lor a time tiie mercenary forces of the usur- 
per. 

1 will now proceed to answer some of the state- 
ments made on this floor by gentlemen on t'le other 
side. Some of them tell us that we are not pre- 
pared for a conflict with Great Britain; that we have 
no fortifications deserving the name; no navy; no ar- 
my; no militia; whilst she is represented as having 
])reparation8 in all these i-e.-^pccts, never before .seen 
in the hands of any pov/er in the history of the 
world. Statements like these are the standing and 
stereotyped arguments of all those, who, in the his- 
tory of the United States have been opposed to war. 
They are con.<;iderations which were urged just before 
our revolutionary and our last war, and urged with 
an ingenuity, and eloquence, and seeming proprie- 
ty which they can never bring with them asrain. 
They carried with them little or no force then^and 



12 



they can carry with th«m still less now. when the re- 
8a1t of both those wara, but especially of the latter, has 
proved that our stren»th consists in our resources, 
in our material for ready preparation, and in the in- 
domitable spirit of our people, rather than in any 
extended previous preparation. To arjue that we 
should adopt no measnres which, by any possibility, 
will lead to war, unlit we are an an equality in point 
of preparation with the power which it may be sup- 
posed we will otfend, is to arg;ue against all war, as 
well as against the advocacy of any measure which, 
however remotely, may operate to produce hostili- 
ties. For the sense of our people, the spirit of our 
institutions is opposed to large standing armies, to 
expensive navies, and to extensive fortifications, so 
that our preparations are always made after war is 
declared, or considered inevitable. 

Other gentlemen tell us that the certain effect of a 
■war for Oregon will be to lose the whole of it 
for a while, at least, and that its prfibable effect will 
be to lose it to us altogether. But, sir, I cannot 
bring myself to believe that we shall lose it 
even for a time. I cannot but believe that we 
shall be able to send men enough into that country 
to expel any torce which Great Britain can send 
there, and supply with the necessaries of life and the 
munitions of war, for any considerable time. And 
as to her Indian allies, very little is to be dreaded 
from them, except in their attacks upion defenceless 
women and children. Great Britain managed in 



assertion that our title to the whole of Oregon WM 
clear and indisputable. 

Other gentlemen have descanted most beautifully 
upon the prosperity tf our country; its wealth, its 
commerce, and the achievements of its arts and in- 
dustry; and we are bid to look upon them all as the 
trophies of peace. That peace }s the immediate 
cause of all this, I am ready to admit. But there is 
a rlas.-j of causes, called remote causes, and they are 
frequently entitled to more weight, when results are 
to be considered, than those causes which are seem- 
ingly m!)re direct and manifest. And among the re- 
mote causes, which have enabled us to attain our 
present position, in all that aggrandizes a people, the 
two wars through which we have passed, are cei^ 
tainly entitled to no little weight and consideration. 
The first war brought out our independence, and 
"ave ''-.s existence as a free confederacy of Slates. 
And the second gave our people a name for valor 
and unconquerable determination, and for jealousy 
of our rights, which challenges respect for U3 in 
every sea and in every port. This respect, sir, is the 
chief element and support of extended commer- 
cial prosperity. Let us forfeit that by any 
surrender of our just and proper rights, and 
these monument.s of our enterprise and adven- 
ture, to which we now refer with so much, and 
with such just pride, will be humbled and levelled 
in the dust. And, I would ask, if Great Britain 
flakes nothing in this conflict ? Where are her 
wealth, her prosperity, her commerce, and the 



both our wars to get them upon her side, but we ! achievements of her arts and her industry.' Where 
were an overmatch for both of them, and that, too, , ^^^ j^g thousands and tens of thousands of her peo- 
when the Indians were much more numerous and j .^ who are now employed in manufactories, but 
powerful than they are ai this time, and when we | ^^j^'^ if the supply of cotton shall be cut off by war, 
— - far less so, and when the Indians were far, ^ju j^g ti„.own out of employment, and reduced to 
formidable than the haU-hrute creatures which ^e^rgary and starvation? Where are the mutter- 

ings of the gathering storm, which arc con- 
stantly heard amongst her enslaved and starving 
[lopulace, and in the very heart of her kingdom .' 
Where is Ireland, with her convulsive throes for 
the very birthright of freemen — direct representa- 
tion? Where is the wild, the brave Atfghan, 
, ,. , - , , ,-. , who, in the rude mountains of his native land, is 

believe that we can employ a force in Oregon ihali [,gj^^i„„ i^^^,^ ^^ii,, fury and destruction the wave of 
will enable us to retain possession of it against any i 3,1^;,^^ p^^gr, as at each r. turning wave it seeks 
force which can be .sent there. I have great confi- L,, ^j^.g^,.^^ his own, his native land? Where are 
dence in the enterprise and prowess of our western Uj^^ „y,j,grou3 colonies and .settlements, scattered 
citizens whose invaluable services as hardy pioneers, throu-hout the habitable globe, bound to her only by 
both in possessing themselves of the country, and in j-^^ ,^„j ^,,j, are seeking the first favorable oppor 
the rapid population of 11, was so graphnally de- t^,f,|ty t 



were 
more 

bear that name on the west of the Rocky mountains 
Indeed, 1 am inclined to the opinion that the Indians 
have but served to fetter and clog the operations of 
their civilized allies. This is em|ihaticaily so, in all 
their pitched and regular battles. In all such engage- 
ments, the British would have done better without 
them. I rejieat it, therefore, sir, that I cannot but 



scribed by the honorable member from Indiana, 
[Mr. Kemnedy,] and whom he so faithfully repre- 
sents on this floor. I never can believe that they will 
allow the cross of St. George to float in triumph 
over uny portion of that territory. But if misfor- 
tune should lose us the country in the beginning, 
there never can be any possible chance of our losing 
it altogelher. If Great Britain should expel out 
people from the territory, we can take possession of 
Canada, and New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia; and 
when we become tired of fighting each other, she 
will give U3 Oregon, and we will probably surrender 
these countries to her. But, if we should unfortu- 
nately lose it altogether, we shall have the gratifi- 
cation of remembering that it was lost by the tor- 
tunes of war, rather than by ignoble surrender — that 
we were at least true to the motto which we have 
adopted in the maniigement of our foreign relations, 
"to ask nothing but whut is right, and to submit, 
with impunity, to nothing thnt is wrong" — and that 
we have not been altogether false to our reiterated 



ty to throw off the yoke of her exactions and 
oppressions? Where are all those nations of the 
world, who, according lo the honorable gentleman 
from Virginia, [Mr. Hunter,] arc standing by, 
panting for her overthrow, and ready to gather up 
the Bjioils of her dissolution? Is it true that we 
have everything to discourage, and she everything 
to prompt and urge her to the conflict? If the sym- 
pathy of mankind be the platform on which we are 
first to jilace ourselves in order to ensure success, 
where, I would ask, amid the realities of the pic- 
ture I have drawn, she is lo obtain even n footliold? 

There is yet another and a distinct class in this 
House — for on this question there are several 
classes, as well as shades of opinion — I say there 
is a clds.^ who are opposed to this notice, becnu.se 
they are of opinion that the I'rcsidcnt and Senate 
have that authority, as the treaty-making power, 
and they are opposed to what they consider unneces- 
sary and unauthorized legislation. It is true that 
the President and Senate have the power to make 



13 



treaties by the constitution. But that the power to 
make carries with it the power to annul and abro- 
gate, may admit of some doubt. It is true, there 
are cases in which they may destroy a former 
treaty, by making a later one, whose provisions con- 
flict with the former; but this is but the conse- 
quence of their power to make. But that they may 
oftheir own mere motion, by way of notice, pro- 
clamation, or otherwise, put an end to a subsisting 
treaty, when the terms of the treaty confer no such 
power on either, may well be questioned. 

And when reference is had to another clause of 
the constitution, which gives to treaties, when pro- 
perly concluded, the force, and power, and name ot 
a law, this view of the case would appear to re- 
ceive additional strength. This clause would seem 
to bring treaties, when once made, under the con- 
trol of the law-making power, which embraces the 
President and both houses of Congress. If these 
considerations, which would seem to confer the 
power on Congress, the President co-operating, are 
entitled to any weight, and there be likewise any 
force in the arguments which confine this power to 
the President and the Senate, these conflicting opin- 
ions and arguments but show that the question is 
involved in doubt. And where there is doubt as to 
the question, whether any power is properly to be 
exercised by a part or by the whole of the legisla- 
tive authority of the government, that construction 
ought to prevail which refer it to the whole, as 
being more safe and more in unison with the spirit 
of Our institutions. Regarding it, therefore, as a 
question of doubt, the President certainly acted with 
prudence m conceding the power to Congress con- 
jointly with himself, and the people will commend 
him for his prudence. 

Again, the question of terminating the treaty, and 
the measures by which it is to be followed, are so 
intimately connected, in the estimation of many, 
with the peace of the country, that even if the 
power were clearly wiih the President and Senate, 
there would be no manifest impropriety in taking 
advice of Congress, inasmuch as if war do follow, 
Congress must declare it — must vole the money ne- 
cessary to carry it on — and inasmuch as the people 
we represent will at last have to furnish the pecu- 
niary and physical material for prosecuting it. It 
i.s from no desire to shun any just responsibility of 
his position that he refers the matter to Congress. 
"Whatever of responsibility is to attach to the giving 
of the notice, he lias boldly assumed before the face 
of the country by recording, under the solemnity of 
his constitutional oi^ligations, his opinion that the 
notice should be given, and given at once. 

And it is to be feared that many of those who r.re 
row most ready to brand the. President with a de- 
sire to sliun the responsibility of his station, would, 
if tl'.e notice had been given by him and war have 
unfortunately ensued, and proved disastrou.s in its 
termination or its progress, be foremost in de- 
nouncing him as heedless, reckless, and wanting in 
respect to the representatives of the people in a mat- 
ter concerning their peace and their very lives. 
The passage of this resolution has been branded in 
advance as an infringement of the powers of the 
executive. But I must confess that I am at a loss 
to perceive how, in any possible view of the case, 
it can be so regarded. What 1 understand as an 
infringement of any power, is an arbitrary and un- 
solicited interference and usurpation of it. In the 



cjise now before us, we aire called on to act at the 
instance of the Executive, and at his request, ad- 
vising what may be best for the interest of his 
country. And, Mr. Chairman, it is a little remark- 
able that the objection that Congress should not in- 
terfere in the giving this notice, but that the whole 
of it should be left with the President, is urged with 
the greatest pertinacity by those very gentlemen 
who, for the last four or five years, have been en- 
veighing with the most violent denunciation against 
the already over-grown and irresistible power of the 
executive, as they were pleased to term it. It cer- 
tainly was hardly to have been expected that, in so 
short a time, they would be found in a case of 
doubtful right, ready to leave to the Executive the 
exercise of a power which, according to their own 
confession, must almost necessarily lead to war. 

Before I take my seat, I will make but a remark 
or so upon the amendment of the honorable gentle- 
man from Alabama, [Mr. Hiluard.] His amend- 
ment proposes to empewer the President to give the 
notice when, in his opinion, the public interest re- 
quires it. The President, sir, under the solemn 
discharge of his duties under the constitution has 
stated to this House and to the country his belief 
that the notice should be given noxo — should be 
given at once — and that without delay. To au- 
thorize him, therefore, to give the notice, when he 
shall think it best to do so. is to authorize him to do 
it now; and that is precisely what the original reso- 
lution, reported by the Committee on Foreign Re- 
lations, proposes to do. And, sir, for us to adopt 
the amendment of the gentleman from Alabama 
[Mr. Hiiliard] would look very much like ques- 
tioning the sincerity of the President or his firmness 
when he made that declaration. It is very much 
like saying to him, we know you have told us in 
your message that, in your opinion, the notice 
should be given forthwith, but we can hardly think 
you in earnest, and will therefore empower you to 
do it, when you really do get in the notion that it 
ought to be given. The adoption of the amendment 
will certainly furnish very strong evidence either 
that we question his sincerity, or that it is the de- 
sire of a majority of this House that the notice 
should be postponed, or that we are unwilling to 
share with him any responsibility whatever of the 
consequences which may follow the notice. The 
first inference would be unjust to that officer; the 
second would be contrary to the wishes of a major- 
ity of this House, and to manifest an unwillingness 
to share with the Executive the responsibility of the 
notice and the consequences to which it may lead, 
is exceeflingly unkind in his political friends, and 
looks very moch like turning the "cold shoulder'' 
when one's friend is in a crisis, and that, too, a 
crisis into which those very friends have been in- 
strument.il in bringing him. The democratic friends 
of the President made the assertion of our tide to 
Oregon one of the cardinal doctrines to which they 
pledged him before the people; and now, when he 
comes forward to take the first step necessary to re- 
deem that pledge, these very friends are Cfilled up- 
on to turn their backs upon him, and tell him, "Sir, 
you must take all the responsibility; the business 
begins to look rather squally, and we had rather 
have as little to do with it as possible." Call you 
this supporting your friends? Will it not rather go 
to some extent to verify the predictions made on 
this floor that the President, friends and ail, will 



14 



back out from this whole matier? For these rea- 
sons I am opposed to the amendment of the honor- 
able gentleman from Alabama. Jt is but riehtand 
mfc that we share with him the responfibihty. 
The union of all the legislative and representative 
departments of the government will give the notice 
a moral influence for good what it could not carry 



ttt'auth'X/' '"' '" """"" "' ' ^"^' «"'>' '' 
Mr. Chairman, I am done, and my concluding 
desire is, that whatever turn thi. matter may «ak? 
.t may result in the preservation of the peace^ofSfe 
country; but, at all events, in the maintenance of 
our just rights in the Oregon country 



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